Character Clues

Character Analysis

Actions

The old maxim that actions speak louder than words doesn't really apply in this book. Words and actions speak pretty equally here. People tend to say and do exactly what they mean here, so we can pretty much take people's actions at face value.

Which isn't to say that those actions would make sense in a normal world. Dominique marries two men she doesn't love? Roark blows up his own building? Toohey decides to control the world through… architectural criticism? In the universe of the novel, these actions make sense. And fortunately for us, people like Dominique and Roark and Toohey take the time to talk at length about their actions. The things people do define who they are, and in case we were confused about anything, the characters all take time to explain their actions to us.

Occupation

A huge chunk of this novel focuses on architecture and architects (check out the "Symbols" section for more on why that is), so it makes sense that occupation would play a role in defining various characters. However, what a character's occupation is doesn't matter quite as much as how they perform at that occupation. This is why we get multiple examples of different occupations. Keating and Roark are competing architects, while Toohey and Wynand can be seen as competing journalists/media-moguls. These contrasts help to shed light on individual characters. We also get examples of one-off occupations that fit into the novel's thematic structure such as Mallory the struggling sculptor, Katie the miserable social worker, Mike the electrician, and Enright the wealthy industrialist.

Physical Appearance

This trait doesn't apply to every single character, but for the most part the way a character looks reflects their inner selves. Rand's contempt for Toohey and what he represents comes across strongly in his physical appearance: he is weak and scrawny. Keating, who loses his way, becomes overweight in later chapters. Dominique, who is beautiful yet very remote, is described as an ice queen. And Roark is—of course—pretty hot.

Thoughts and Opinions

Since this is a philosophical novel, people have lots of opinions and they helpfully express those opinions for us… often for pages at a time. It is the opinions that people have that really define who they are in the world of the novel.

In fact, this is probably the most important aspect of characterization in this novel, since ideas are pretty much the overall point of the novel. While Roark and Toohey are the two characters whose worldview in on display the most often, the supporting cast gets to air their thoughts as well. Characters like Keating, Dominique, Katie, and Wynand express a range of ideas, often illuminating philosophical concepts along the way.